Improvement in the manufagtuee of illuminating gas



'w. LLLOWREY. Making Wood Gas. .No. 67,122. V Patented-July 23; 1867.

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WILLIAM L. LOWREY, OF SARATOGA SPRINGS, NEW YORK.

' Letters Patent No. 67,127, dated July 23, 1867.

f IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ILLUMINATING GAS. i flit: rlptnle rifimt in in llltfit Edam new ant mating pat at its arms.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, W. L. LOWREY, of Saratoga Springs, in the county of Saratoga, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful improvements in the Process of Manufacturing Illuminating Gas; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the i accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, like letters indicating like parts wherever they occur.

To enable others skilled in the art to construct and use my invention, I will proceed to describe it. My invention consists of a new and useful improvement in the process of manufacturing illuminating gas. r This process may be used in connection with cooking or other stoves in such a way as to economize and utilize the heat in the production of the gas. The arrangementherein described is one made to show how the process i may be carried on in connection with a stove. In the drawings- Figure 1 is a vertical section. I Figure 2 is a top plan view, and

Figure 3 is one of the many forms of retort that may be used.

I make a. retort, A, of an oblong or other desirable form, and open at the endE. To the end E, I fit a cover with a tight joint, and fasten it by inserting the bar 1 in the projections j k, and wedging it fast. Near the lower side and end of the retort farthest from-the cover E, I insert the pipe (1. One end of this pipe reaches .nearly to the upper side of the retort; the other end connects with the cylindrical chamber B, which I place i t and parallel with the retort- Near the opposite'end ofthe chamber-B, I insert another pipe, 6, making it of suficient length and shape, or jointed when necessary, to connect with and near one end of another cylindrical chamber, 0. Near the opposite end of the chamber C, I insert another pipe, d, which I pass into a suitable size gasometer, D, as shownin fig. 1. Over the end of the pipe 11 within the gasometer I fasten a strip of India rubber, e, which acts as a valve. The chambers B and C are open at one end. These open ends I cover L with caps "g, which are made to screw on or ed. The gasometer D is of the ordinaryform, but is arranged to have its lower section nearly filled with water, into which the pipe 02' passes, and having the pipe f, through which the gas is drawn oil, extending up into its upper part where the gas is gathered.

In operating my apparatus thus constructed, I place within the retort A, wood, coal, peat, corn-stalks, corn, hay, straw, or any other light combustible matter, or clay, or any carbonaceous oils or stone containing gas. The chamber B, I fill about half full of charcoal. The chamber 0, I fill with charcoal mixed with a small quantity of limestone. After the retort and chambers are thus charged the covers are tightly fitted, and the retort and chamber B are placed within andon the rear side of the fire-place of the stove. The stove-door is closed, but just above it I have an opening to allow the pipe I; to pass through to connect with the chamber 0. The i intense heat of the fire causes the substance within the retort to throw oll' smoke, steam, and'gas. These pass i through the pipe a and into the chamber B, which, being charged with charcoal and along with it superheated, I decomposes the gaseous substances passing into it from the retort into oxygen and light carburetted hydrogen.

The oxygen is consumed, and the light carburetted hydrogen charged with carbonic acid gas passes on to the chamber C, and in passing through this chamber, and the charcoal within it, becomes compressed and condensed, principally into carbonic acid and coal tar, and in passing on presses'again'st the rubber valve e. The pressure upon the rubber valve e raises it, and the gas, carbonic acid, and coal tar pass into the tank of thegasometer. In the process, the coal tar being superheated throws off a large portion of carburetted hydrogen, and is still further decomposed when driven into the tank of the gasometer. The carburetted hydrogen produced before entering the tank, as well as that arising from the further decomposition of the coal tar that enters the tank, rises to the upper portion of the gasometer, from which it can be drawn for illuminating purposes in the usual way. In the course of the process, B becomes the decomposing-chamber and G the condensingand compressingchamber, and I distinguish them as such. By removing the covers from the retort A and the chambers B and C, which may be done when they are cold, or by the use'of a suitableinstrument when they are hot. the charges in them may be withdrawn and new ones substituted. The charcoal remaining in the retort will be found to be of a very superior'quality. I

By this apparatus, arranged and operated as described, I succeed in utilizing the heat of the stove for the manufacture of the gas without interfering with its other functions. I also succeed in obtaining more gas from the quantity of substance used from which the gas is made than is obtained by any other process now in practical use, and at a far less cost.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, is

1. The manufacture of gas by roasting the material in a retort, and passing the gaseousproduets through a chamber partially filled with charcoal at a high heat, and then through a condensing-chamber filled with charcoal, substantially as described.

2. The retort A, in combination with the decomposing-chamber B, and the eondensing-chamber 0, when arranged and operated in connection with a cooking-stove, range, or similar heating apparatus, substantially as set forth.

W. L. LOWREY.

Witnesses:

H. B. MUNN, P. '1, Donen. 

